The Western women’s basketball team is Final Four bound.
A 58-55 win by the No. 5 Vikings over No. 4 Valdosta State in the quarterfinals gives Western its third Final Four appearance in program history and first since 2013.
This late in the season, it’s always going to be a good team against a good team, and the Blazers were no small task.
Valdosta State scored the first eight points of the game before Western senior Emma Duff put the Vikings on the scoreboard after splitting a pair of free throws.
Western didn’t find its first field goal of the game until Everson freshman Riley Dykstra converted a layup, but by that point the Vikings were down 13-3 in the first quarter.
A lack of rhythm, nerves, whatever you want to call it, prevented the Vikings from truly finding a stride on either end of the floor before Dykstra’s basket.
Western closed the gap to 19-12 by the end of the first and the Vikings finally looked like themselves in the second quarter.
A 3-pointer from senior Gracie Castaneda tied the game at 23-23 in the second quarter and just like that, Western had clawed all the way back.
“I think we came out a little bit flat and [Valdosta State] did a really good job of packing it inside and we definitely like to go inside and they took that away from us,” Western head coach Carmen Dolfo said. “We just needed to settle in, catch the ball ready to shoot a little more and move the ball and not stand so much. We’ve been in this situation before and we don’t panic, we stay together and know our defense controls things.”
The Vikings led 33-31 at halftime, having outscored the Blazers 32-18 from the initial 13-1 hole.
Heading into the final eight minutes, Western was clinging to a one-point lead at 44-43.
The Vikings led by no more than two possessions in the fourth quarter, but clutch shot after clutch shot fell for Western.
The biggest came from Dykstra who drained a triple to put Western up by four with less than a minute left in the game. Dykstra came up big again at the end, splitting a pair of free throws to give the Vikings a 58-55 lead with 2.7 seconds left.
Valdosta State turned it over on the following possession, the clock hit zero and Western had earned its spot in the Final Four.
“We are super excited to be able to get this win and be able to move on and get to play another game together,” Dolfo said.
Sophomore Brooke Walling led the Vikings with a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double. Also scoring in double figures were junior Mollie Olson with 11 and Dykstra and Duff who each scored 10. As a team, the Vikings shot 42.6% from the field and held Valdosta State to 34% shooting.
“Our team is awesome,” Olson said. “We knew what [Valdosta State] was taking away, so we realized what we needed to do, started running more and that got our offense going. Once we get into a good flow we start hitting and our defense just rolls off of that.”
Western will look to advance to its first Division II national championship in program history at 6:30 p.m. (Pacific) Wednesday against No. 1 North Georgia. The game will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.
